Distraction and Abstraction

Trying to move house is very distracting and energy draining, and I seem to have lost inspiration, hence my lack of post writing.

Anyway, this was a little experiment. I've still got quite a bit of patterned paper stashed away from when I was into papercrafting.

I took a square of hardboard and stuck a piece of patterned paper onto it. I forgot to take a photo at this point to show the paper, but this is a leftover piece. It's from a Tim Holtz designed paper pad.

When it was completely dry - I left it 24 hours - I coated it with clear watercolour ground (the equivalent of acrylic clear gesso).

I then used 3 watercolour washes over it, with crumpled clingfilm (bottom left).

The watercolour ground provided a key for the paint, and also prevented the washes from soaking into the paper.

I painted some flower shapes in white gouache, and lastly added some gilding flakes.

It is important to let it dry completely between each layer.

I'm pleased with my floral abstract and the paper remains as smooth as when I first applied it. Clear watercolour ground is the way to go!

Hazy lazy days ... mine and Monet's!

I'm slowing finishing the projects that have been around for some time! This one is a watercolour with collage.

I applied the collage pieces first and then drew the outline of the poppy seed heads and thistles.This was followed by a washed background with cling film, I also used some Brusho too.

I then painted the seed heads and thistles before using pen and ink for a little outlining.

This brings back childhood memories of hot summer meadow days - silent except for the buzzy bees!

I've put this one in my Etsy shop.

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day,

listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky,

is by no means a waste of time.

John Lubbock, The Use of Life

I recently saw the Monet & Architecture Exhibition at The National Gallery. What a joy that is, to see several series of paintings brought together. I loved the series of Rouen Cathedral, Venice, London, plus some I was unaware of, including earlier ones. I treated myself to the book of the Exhibition, and I really want to try painting with Monet's colour palette to see if I can come anywhere close to the way he depicts light.

Here are just a handful of my favourites from the exhibition.

Rouen Cathedral

The Church at Varengeville

The Grand Canal, Venice

Sailboat at Le Petite Gennevilliers

The Exhibition is on until 29 July, so go see it if you can.

I've just one one more project to finish, which I'm determined to do before I start anything else!

Happy lazy summer days!

Oops-a-daisy!

It's time for the Craft Barn's monthly challenge using the Sara Coleridge poem The Months of the Year.

April's couplet is -

April brings the primrose sweet,

Scatters daisies at our feet.

We also have to include either a primrose or a daisy.

As I've already mentioned in previous posts, I am struggling with the postcard format, but I am determined to stick to it!

I've used a piece of Yupo as the background, which was created with Brushos and clingfilm (see previous post here).

I then gesso'd a book page, cut out some petals, and added a bit of sparkle for the daisy centre (cut from another scrap).

Less is more with this size, so I'm not going to fret about trying to get too much into these small pieces.

Really enjoying all this sunshine, though it is a bit chilly in the mornings. But ... I did wash the car today and did the inside too! Not sure what came over me - it must be Spring!

Happy Easter!

A pinch of salt and the sublime Monet

At the moment I am into a 3 week art class project using textures. In the past I have tried many texture techniques, but with acrylic paint; I have not considered using textures with watercolour.

Our first exercise was to try several different textures, and this is the result.

If you click on the picture you can enlarge it. Starting at top left and moving down the columns -

Pieces of tissue paper with starch based glue (e.g. wallpaper paste).

Pieces of tissue paper with PVA glue (acts as a bit of a resist compared with starch based glue).

PVA glue dribbled in a pattern and left to dry before covering with paint.

Resin sand - a gel medium with sand.

Glass beads - a gel medium with glass beads; a strong resist.

Salt sprinkled into wet paint, and let dry before brushing the salt away (rice will also work).

Clingfilm - in two layers. Let the first layer dry before removing the cling film, then apply more paint and cover with film again.

Using watercolour paint mixed with wallpaper paste, which enables patterns to be drawn into it whilst it is wet (also known as glue painting).

So now we are working on a painting using texture and watercolour with other media, but there are 2 more weeks to go before I finish it.

This year I have a National Art Pass which allows free entry to many museums, galleries, stately homes and castles, or a reduced price entry to special exhibitions.

Used it for the first time this week, when we visited The Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House (on The Strand in London). The Gallery has a fabulous collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings, as well as from the Renaissance.

These are some of my favourites:

Frank Auerbach
Carreras Factory, Mornington Crescent 1961

Loved the very thick textured oil paint and monotone.

Paul Cezanne
The Lac d'Annecy 1896

Limited colour palette and the lines drew me to this. Very atmospheric.

Claude Monet
Antibes, 1898

Still my most favourite Impressionist! His work is instantly recognizable and they way he paints light is breathtaking.

There were some very small sketches by Georges Seurat, known for his development of pointillism. I was very struck by how good they looked grouped together.




So I'm going to collect some small ornate frames for my own (yet to create!) paintings, which I can hang on my wall.  Probably a very long term project!

We just had to visit the shop (well it would be rude not to!) - lots of lovely stuff; could have spent a fortune but restrained myself, and bought this fabulous book ...

well, it was on special offer!

I want the unobtainable. Other artists paint a bridge, a house, a boat, and that's the end. They are finished. I want to paint the air which surrounds the bridge, the house, the boat, the beauty of the air in which these objects are located, and that is nothing short of impossible.
Claude Monet

I must have flowers, always, and always ...

... that's a quote from Claude Monet.

What do they say about best laid plans? I had quite a few paintings planned for the break in my art classes, then I went down with a pesky head cold, and even lost my voice for a few days, so the inspiration fairy was feeling a little pale and wan! I'm on the mend now, but still got a very fuzzy head and an irritating cough!

I did manage to finish off this painting, which I started about a month ago. Echinacea is one of my favourite flowers, as I'm drawn to the shapes they create.

I did the outline drawing first, using a dip pen and India ink, and then applied a little masking fluid to some areas. The background is acrylic inks dropped into a very wet surface, and then crinkled up clingfilm applied. Don't be tempted to remove the film until the paint has dried!

I then coloured the flowers with watercolour, Neocolor II crayons and coloured pencils.

Finally, I covered the whole piece with a very dilute yellow wash.

I hope that 2017 brings lots of arty inspriration to everyone!